Community Tasting Note

• Frank Murray III wrote:

  September 16, 2019 - I'll join the passion that Neras posted in his previous note, too. The bottle for my note here was opened on Saturday morning, and it's now Monday afternoon. We had so much left that I have just been working through it the past few days. The bouquet on this stuff leaps out of the stem. Bramble, floral, reminding me of the aromas that come from a barrel sample, just a joy to take in. The palate starts with crisper red fruits like cranberry and maybe some black cherry, with the latter giving the wine a juicy note. And even after 2 full days open, there is structure remaining here, too. I really do like the Mancini vineyard and like the 2016 that wowed me last year for similar red fruits and structure with acid, the 2017 is not far off from that same profile, which tells me I need to keep buying it. Delicious wine.........ah hell, one more update. Day 5 and this stuff keeps going. This is the end of the bottle from this past Saturday and it's rounded out well. Still some light structure but mostly now just a beautiful, pure red/black fruit with a zippy acidity. Damn straight, one of the best Carlisle zins I have ever had, and I've been drinking them for 15 years now. Awesome wine.

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15 Comments

• Mark1npt commented:

  9/16/19, 5:51 PM - To me there is something wrong with a wine that takes 2-3 days open to get good, no?

• Frank Murray III commented:

  9/16/19, 9:04 PM - Mark, not sure I understand you. For me, I appreciate the structure that persists, giving it some tension and aging capacity. This is a damn good wine that Mike has made.

• Mark1npt commented:

  9/16/19, 9:33 PM - How was this wine open for 3 days? Cork put back in the bottle? Vacuum pump? How? Thanks.
  
  Points???? Just curious as to your grade right now. I understand it has structure to age, but what would you grade it right now? Thanks.

• Frank Murray III commented:

  9/17/19, 3:25 PM - Mark, I opened the bottle Saturday, then simply left it under cork since then on my fridge door. I still have a glass left, so probably finish it tomorrow, which is Day 5. As for points, I don't use them and don't believe in the premise. It's why I write the narratives that you see, which is to help people identify with what I sensed, tasted and what I think the wine will do with more age.

• red freddy commented:

  11/7/20, 2:45 PM - I am not sure Frank Murray III is saying the wine takes 2-3 days after opening to 'get good.' Rather, I interpreted it as meaning it was 'still good' after 2-3 (or more) days of being opened.

• Mark1npt commented:

  11/7/20, 3:07 PM - Red, you are probably right.
  
  #1, very few bottles last the evening in my house, let alone 2-5 days! I just don't see the point! Lol.......
  
  I do realize, some wines take 12 hours, a few 24 hours to open up. Most of mine get really good within 2-4 hours, tops! Cheers!

• Frank Murray III commented:

  11/7/20, 4:00 PM - Red Freddy, you got my meaning. The staying power on the wine was what I was trying to convey. I do hope future vintages of Mancini have this kind of character.

• Mark1npt commented:

  11/7/20, 4:23 PM - Frank, for wines to last open for 3, 4, 5 days open they have to be front loaded with so much acidity they might be undrinkable on opening....otherwise, they'd be totally flat by day 3 at best.

• red freddy commented:

  11/8/20, 11:23 AM - Thanks guys. You're good examples of what makes CT so great. I was explaining the virtues of CT to a neighbor when he turned to me and laughingly said: "Fred! We're Italian - a Bottle of wine doesn't Stick Around our house LONG enough to be Tracked!"
  
  You're both quite right. Some bottles that I thought 'Dumpers' after opening were quite drinkable the next day or so. One bottle I remember, paradoxically just seemed to get better & better each day after opening. (2012 Cantina di Santadi Carignano del Sulcis Grotta Rossa)

• Frank Murray III commented:

  11/8/20, 11:51 AM - I have no idea what your real names are guys but I enjoy the back and forth on the wine. Mark (?), if it was loaded up with acid as you suggest, I would have called that out in my note. But, if you follow my notes on Champagne, you will know I am an acid lover so I may not experience high acid as you might....I am not playing coy and suggesting you don't know acidity, only framing for how I see acid and what I would say. But think about my cranberry reference, which is a good indicator of an acid marker.
  
  My wife does not drink red wine and so it is not out of truth that I might stretch a bottle for several days. I do think the Mancini bottling, as shown by the 16 and 17, has the capacity to do as I have written. Yet to have the 2018.

• Mark1npt commented:

  11/8/20, 12:13 PM - Yes, great conversation guys! That's what we're here for!
  
  Frank-----my name really is Mark! And, I believe you love your acid! What I have noticed are that many of my friends on here 'get' different things from their wines. Some really dig and want only the fruit by the bucket loads, some love/hate high acids and are drawn to those wines, some hate and are sensitive to the high alcohol levels of many Cali wines and seek more refined old time BDXs. I personally seem to be sensitive to high acidity. It's the primary reason I don't enjoy so many Italian wines. For whatever the reasons, real or imagined, they seem to give me much more heartburn and indigestion, unless consumed with food and I must admit, I often sit and drink a glass without food! I am also sensitive to the high alc Sonoma zins that say 16.2% on the label but that by law can be as high as 17.7% and still be legal by the label and often are. One glass of those, enjoying the ripe zin fruit on an empty stomach, and I'll have a killer migraine til the next morning!
  
  And I must admit to putting some sugar in at the end of making my pot of red sauce, just to cut the acidity down a notch......I'm sure Italian mothers all over America are clutching their chests right about now over that!

• Frank Murray III commented:

  11/8/20, 12:20 PM - Mark, I had to say goodbye to high alcohol wines. I just couldn't do it anymore so I have a few in the cellar, mainly petite and I do still buy Carlisle, but I tend to buy only the Zin that are higher in acid, lower in alc. It's not that black and white but Mancini does that for me, which is why it's cool that that wine emerged into this discussion. You should see some of my local friends who give me the business about low dosage, high acid Champagne. It's in the end about balance, but also for me power, and when they both come together in wines that bring acid and low dosage, to me it is MA-JEEK. Anyway, it's been fun to share and trade some fun replies with you mystery people. :). Now, I am off to drink some Kutch Graveyard and the leftover Lahaye Saignee from last night. !

• Mark1npt commented:

  11/8/20, 2:09 PM - Frank, I get it and to some extent I like my wines a little like that too....plenty of good acidic backbone to make them age and last and come together in the end, years later, in perfect balance.....you and I were somewhat speaking the same language afterall. If there's no acid, then the wine won't keep...if there's too much acid then I'm reaching for the nexium. Reminds me on one particular bottle of Carlisle I had about 2 years ago...it was straight battery acid and I took a beating on here for it, oh well. A '10 Leonetti Red awaits me....still great acidity to it! Brings all the other elements ina 10 yo wine tino glorious focus against the ribeye!....Cheers, pal!

• Frank Murray III commented:

  11/8/20, 5:50 PM - Enjoy Mark, good talking with you today, Stay safe and well.

• Mark1npt commented:

  11/8/20, 6:48 PM - You too, Frank!

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